This blog is by and for UCF Girls Studies' students, scholars, and activists and invites discussion and resource sharing around issues related to girls and Girls Studies. Girls and others interested in participating are welcome. Email the admin for permission to contribute!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Plastic Surgery Too Young?

The amount of young girls who want plastic surgery is incomprehensible. The promotion of perfection in our society hits the youngest of its victims. Not only is plastic surgery not necessary for older women, (as long as it isn’t medically necessary), but for girls who are still growing, it can set her up for problems in the long run. The United States is a plastic surgery nation. The media distorts our societies view on how a woman should look based on a man’s perspective. This obsession with the perfection of a woman’s body generates disinterest in a woman’s capability beyond the visible surface. A woman’s intellectual value is contingent upon a society that rejects the patriarchal ideology that ultimately degrades women. It starts with the mental wellbeing of girls and the promotion of positive role models that show and display powerful and strong women who have given back to humanity in a constructive way.
Plastic surgery promotes the insecurities that are created by our attitudes and social norms that have been established by the media. For girls who are insistent upon plastic surgery, one must consider that a young woman is still not fully developed and plastic surgery can not only create psychological problems but also physical problems. Plastic surgery does not develop confidence, it encourages insecurity. Confidence comes from within, not from one’s outward appearance.